Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

The heat wave, mixed with the stench of sweat, was even more pungent than the black smoke from the earlier explosion.

"I want ten of these! I want ten of these furnaces!"

"Get out of my way! I'll pay double, give it to me first!"

"You're the young master of Tiangong City, right? I'm the chief elder of the Liuyun Sect. If you're willing to sell me this furnace, the Liuyun Sect will owe you a favor!"

The once reserved and proud alchemists, now like sharks smelling blood, their eyes bloodshot, frantically pressed towards the small stall. They seemed to believe that if they hesitated even a moment longer, this "shortcut" to the pinnacle of alchemy would vanish completely.

Mo Xie was startled by the scene and subconsciously took half a step back. The Divine Machine Box behind him creaked and rattled, ready to transform and fire a cannon to maintain order at any moment.

"stop--!"

A clear, slightly languid female voice pierced through the noisy crowd.

Jiang Yining had somehow appeared on the wooden crate in front of the stall, gently waving a feather fan in her hand, looking down at the group of out-of-control cultivators. The red mole between her eyebrows gleamed vividly in the sunlight, and a standard, fake commercial smile played on her lips.

"Masters, please be patient."

Her voice had a strange penetrating power, "This 'Intelligent Alchemy Furnace' is a precision magic artifact. Every screw and every array pattern required my young master to pour his heart and soul into it, using countless rare materials and taking forty-nine hours to polish it into shape."

Mo Xie rolled her eyes as she listened from behind.

What rare material? That's just scrap iron left over from Old Wang next door's furnace explosion.

What do you mean 49 hours? That was typed out last night, it only took two hours in total.

But this did not stop Jiang Yining from continuing to deceive people.

She sighed, looking troubled. "Mass production would inevitably sacrifice precision. I imagine none of you masters would want to buy a defective product that could explode at any moment, would you?"

The crowd fell silent instantly.

What do alchemists fear most? An explosion in the furnace.

If you buy a defective product, not only will you fail to refine the elixir, but you might also die from the poison. Who can you complain to then?

"Then...what should we do? Should we just stop selling?" someone asked anxiously.

"Sell, of course I'll sell."

Jiang Yining snapped her folding fan shut and tapped it against her palm. "To ensure quality, we're going to start a 'limited pre-sale' mode."

"Pre-sale?"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances; this was a new term that had never appeared in the cultivation world before.

Simply put,

Jiang Yining held up one finger. "From today onwards, my young master will only refine ten intelligent alchemy furnaces per day. Those who wish to purchase one must first pay in full to reserve it and receive a number. Only these one hundred numbers will be released today, which is the supply for the next ten days. Once they are all taken, there will be no queueing."

"Ten units per day?!"

A wail erupted from the crowd.

How many alchemists are there in Dan City? There are at least 100,000 who reside there permanently! If they only perform ten alchemy sessions a day, how long will it take to complete that?

"That's too little! I'll pay three times that! I want it now!" A wealthy, portly alchemist waved a handful of Star Coins.

"This master,"

Jiang Yining looked at him with a smile: "We have to be responsible to every customer. Cutting in line is disrespectful to those waiting in line. Besides..."

She pointed to the red-haired boy behind her who was wiping the muzzle of the Divine Machine Box Cannon, "My young master has a bad temper and hates people who don't follow the rules."

The fat alchemist glanced at Mo Xie's emotionless golden eyes, shrank back, and silently put the money away.

Everyone saw clearly how Elder Liu ran away.

"What are you waiting for? Grab a number!"

Someone shouted, and the crowd erupted again. But this time, it wasn't a chaotic jostling; instead, people were scrambling to pull out their money.

"Give me an account! Full payment! This is 100,000 mid-grade star stones!"

"I want two! One for me and one for my junior brother!"

"Me too! Don't push me!"

Jiang Yining sat on the wooden crate, like a ruthless cash register.

"Okay, number one, pick up in ten days."

"Number two, or ten days from now."

"This is your voucher. Please keep it safe. It will not be replaced if lost."

The Star Essence Stones flowed into Mo Xie's open storage bag like a torrent.

In just half an hour.

One hundred number plates were snapped up.

The alchemists who failed to snag a number were filled with regret and frustration. Some even offered as much as 500,000 yuan on the spot just to buy that flimsy wooden number plate!

Hunger is often the best seasoning.

Unreachable is always in turmoil.

Jiang Yining looked at the alchemists who were frustrated because they hadn't managed to get a number and vowed to line up before dawn the next day, and her smile deepened.

This isn't a stove for sale.

This is clearly a scam targeting people's intelligence.

……

Night falls.

Inside a temporarily rented weapon-refining workshop in Dancheng.

wow-

Mo Xie turned the storage bag upside down, and a small mountain of star stones, shimmering with a dark blue light, instantly filled the entire room.

The light shone on his youthful face, making his red hair appear even more alluring.

"One thousand...ten million mid-grade star stones."

The boy's Adam's apple bobbed, and his breathing became rapid.

He'd seen so much money before, but he'd never seen it sell so fast.

Their Tiangong City's machinery is exquisitely crafted, but due to high costs, they can only charge higher prices, which puts them at a disadvantage as other weapon-refining families undercut their prices.

Unlike now, in just one day, we've earned what we couldn't sell in a whole year before!

"Is that all you're satisfied with?"

Jiang Yining sat cross-legged on the mountain of money, casually picked up a piece of excellent quality star essence stone, and held it up to the light. "This is just a deposit. Once this batch of goods is distributed and word spreads, there will only be more orders later."

She tossed the Star Stone to Mo Xie, "Don't just stand there, young master. Get to work! A hundred furnaces, you'll be busy for the next few days."

Mo Xie accepted the Star Stone, but did not show the greedy look she usually did.

He gripped the stone tightly, his golden pupils gleaming with an almost obstinate light.

That's enough.

He whispered, "This money is enough to buy that pill."

Jiang Yining paused.

She knew what Mo Xie was talking about.

His younger sister, whose spiritual root was damaged while saving him and who had been bedridden for years, was the softest, yet most painful, thorn in the heart of this arrogant and sharp-tongued young man.

"Then let's go buy it."

Jiang Yining jumped off the pile of money, dusted off her skirt, and said, "After buying the medicine, we still need to do something big. The harvest of these leeks in Dancheng has only just begun."